Editing User:DavidCary

Welcome to my little corner of Open Circuits.

I think I first stumbled across Open Circuits on 2006-03-01.
I had been starting to set up a electronics-related wiki,
but since this one was already here, why bother?

Feel free to leave a note on [[User_talk:DavidCary|my talk page]].

I created the [[WikiNode]].

== scoreboard clock ==

I have been handed most of a classic basketball scoreboard.

Each digit on scoreboard has 20 incandescent lamps:

    * * * *
    *     *
    *     *
    * * * *
    *     *
    *     *
    * * * *


I hope to someday turn it into a clock and get it listed on the
[http://www.hackersbench.com/giants.html Unofficial Registry of Giant Digital Clocks"].

Should I divide up each digit into 7 segments, like most digital clocks,
or should I add more hardware so I can control each lamp individually?
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] ([[User talk:DavidCary|talk]]) 22:50, 10 October 2015 (PDT)


== Open Circuits wiki ==

In 2013, the OpenCircuits wiki went offline for a while,
during the handover when I was trying to take over maintenance of the OpenCircuits wiki.

Oops.

There's still a few things not quite right --
after I thought I had completely restored the wiki, the "[[Open Circuits:Community Portal]]" doesn't exist at all,
but I can see through the Wayback Machine [https://web.archive.org/web/20130831175940/http://www.opencircuits.com/Open_Circuits:Community_Portal]
that there used to be a discussion there.
I wish I knew what else needs to be restored.

Some ideas for possibly improving the OpenCircuits wiki:
* Install the "Math" extension so we get pretty TeX formulas (<math>\sqrt{20140218}</math>). Done!
* Install the SpamBlacklist extension. Done!
* Install something to make in-browser schematic editing or viewing or simulating or all three easier. In no particular order:
** Perhaps [http://kicadhowto.wikidot.com/fq1circb CircuitBee]?
** Perhaps [https://www.circuitlab.com CircuitLab]?
** Perhaps [http://www.falstad.com/circuit/ Falstad circuit simulator]?
** Perhaps [http://www.docircuits.com/ DoCircuits]?
** Perhaps [http://www.partsim.com/ PartSim]?
** Perhaps [https://upverter.com Upverter]?
** Perhaps [http://www.dz863.com/ Dz863 DrawSCH]?
** Perhaps [http://123d.circuits.io/ 123D Circuits]?
** Perhaps [https://code.google.com/p/svg-edit/ svg-edit]?

== Electronic projects ==
''(Should I move these to dedicated pages such as [[electronics workbench]], etc.?)''

== wind turbine maximum power point tracker ==

I'm thinking about designing a maximum power point tracker (MPPT) specifically optimized for wind turbines.
(See
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximum_power_point_tracker| wikipedia: maximum power point tracker]
for details).

Currently available off-the-shelf MPPTs work fine in the application they were designed for, but apparently they won't work with wind turbines.
When they pull the maximum instantaneous power from a spinning turbine, the turbine blades go slower and slower until it stops, at which point you're getting zero power out.

The wind turbine maximum power point tracker I'm designing will extract more energy over the course of a day than those MPPTs.
Instead of pulling the current that maximizes instantaneous power out, it will pull somewhat less current in order to keep the blades spinning at the optimum speed.
That speed will change over the course of the day as the wind speed changes.

--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 08:14, 26 September 2008 (PDT)

== thermal imaging ==

David Cary did some work thermal imaging parts on a PCB a few years ago.
I hear some people say you can see stars in the daytime with a (far-IR) thermal imager.
I'm thinking about getting my own thermal imager.
Perhaps something like:

cheap-thermocam: an arduino project[http://www.cheap-thermocam.tk/]
via
"DIY Thermal Imaging System for under $200"[http://arduino.cc/blog/2011/03/14/cheap-thermocam-around-100/]

== anti-spam ==

see [[spam]].

I prefer public communication so I avoid the problems associated with (the perception of) [http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl?BackRoomDecision back room decision]s.

--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 18:03, 4 February 2008 (PST)

== electronics workbench ==

What exactly do I need for "normal" electronics development?
I have a pile of stuff, and I have a wishlist of more stuff ...
I hope to document which things are important to have, which things are useful but not immediately necessary, and which things ended up just gathering dust.

I wish there were a place like [http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/09/techshop-geek-h.html TechShop] somewhere local.

* filing cabinet for all the miscellaneous bits of paper. If at all possible, I attach instruction manuals to the actual tool -- but if that is awkward, I stick the instruction manual in this filing cabinet.

== data collection network ==

I'm building a "data collection network" that may end up with hundred of microcontroller sensor nodes,
piping data into a PC.
This may turn into a serious medical diagnosis tool.

== POV display ==

''(moved to [[POV display]])''

== Full-color LED lighting ==

I'm planning to build a silly little toy with 3 LEDs -- one for red, green, and blue --
to show how "additive colors" work (a "color wheel").
(I might just extend it to have a whole spectrum of visible and infrared LEDs, and a prism to show the little spikes in the spectrum that LEDs generate).

"Red, Green, and Blue LED based white light generation"
by Muthu, Schuurmans, and Pashley (2002)
http://www.advancetransformer.com/uploads/resources/LED_White_Light_Issues&Control_-_White_paper.pdf

LED illumination applications
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light-emitting_diode#Illumination_applications

"How Many Red, Green, and Blue LEDs to make White"
by Don Klipstein 2001
http://members.misty.com/don/ledrgb2w.html

LED Color Shifting
http://hackedgadgets.com/2006/02/14/wireless-led-color-shifting/

== "PC Card" PCMCIA ==

I maintain the
[http://david.carybros.com/html/pc_card_faq.html unofficial PC Card FAQ].

I'd like to move it to a wiki.
What would be the best wiki to put it on?
Open Circuits?

-- 
DavidCary

== Open Circuits Sysop ==

Whee! I'm a sysop at Open Circuits!
The power -- it's rushing to my head!
--[[User:DavidCary|DavidCary]] 15:20, 23 February 2007 (PST)

Me too ( thanks to you? ).  How can I use my power, release the hounds.  I am open to suggestions as to how I can help, right now I am just going to read up on what a sysop can do.  [[russ_hensel]] Feb '08


Hi David, will be nice to have antispam measures :).

--[[User:RafaelOrtiz|RafaelOrtiz]] 18:00, 28 October 2007 (PDT)

Hi David can you give me some block IP rights ? 

--[[User:RafaelOrtiz|RafaelOrtiz]] 13:17, 18 November 2007 (PST)

Hi David, I noticed that a bunch of open circuits is just a placeholder.  I'm effectively retired so I can probably help contribute to this Wiki by expanding a bunch of the sections, but the spam here is really way out of control.  I look at the revision history and I see a good 10+ spam edits per day.  Don't you think it's time to try requiring a logon to make edits?   I thank that would really reduce the spam.  Asking people to use a human controlled e-mail address is not that much.  It's not like people need to give their real name and address or anything.  I think you will find that more people will be willing to contribute if the spam problem is handled. Eliminating the spam is more of a problem at this point then getting people to contribute. It would also free up your time to focus more on real editing.
[[User:Mzoran|Mzoran]] 19:38, 12 December 2007 (PST)

== strange and bizarre serial protocols ==

It seems like many people can't resist building yet another custom proprietary communication protocol.
I'm polishing up a list of the 22 most common serial communication problems.
I'm also making a collection of various communication protocols.
I'm most interested in protocols that are (a) simpler to implement and simpler to understand than TCP/IP, (b) don't use "too many" pins on a microcontroller, and (c) avoid most of the above 22 most common problems.

I am beginning to suspect that it may not be possible to avoid all 22 problems unless the protocol is at least as complex as TCP/IP.

Also, I think that 4 pins on the microcontroller seems to make the hardware and software the simplest -- it's possible to squeeze communication to fewer pins, but either the hardware or the software (or both) will be more complicated.

Some "simple" protocols:
* [[SPI]]
* [http://www.microchip.com/unio UNI/O single I/O serial bus] -- seems to contradict my earlier suspicion -- the hardware is simple (connect a I/O pin on the MCU directly to the I/O pin on the EEPROM), and the software doesn't seem very complex.
* ... more to come ...


== from russ_hensel ==

I think some of it is forum vs wiki.  I like the wiki format better, if I have a long answer I would rather post on open circuits and link to it.
For a while I would send an email to people's site that I linked to to try to get more traffic and contributions here.
I think some of it is ego, there is more ego in a forum.
For now I just try to talk up open circuits as much as i can in my other posts. 
Open to more better ideas.

Russ

--

== from Alan: Hacker Wiki Radio ==

Hi,

My name is Alan, I am a web developper and a music junky. 
I am working on music web project. 
We are building a network of local wiki radio, where everyone are DJ and contribute the music 
ambiance, the local information page and the general atmosphere. 

I am writing to you because we are promoting indie artists and are looking for feedback, on features that would most suits them, from  people with a hacker mindset.

Here is the url:
http://muurje-project.appspot.com

Do not hesitate to write me an email. I am more than eager to give you details.
Thank you for your time

Hoping to hear from you 

Alan

== restore ==

restored from archive.